Doolittle’s former top aide working with feds.

David Lopez, former chief of staff for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), has provided “several hundred pages” of documents to federal prosecutors “investigating Doolittle and his wife in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal.”

Lopez’s name has previously surfaced in connection with Abramoff. He took a trip to Puerto Rico in 2001 paid for by Abramoff’s firm, although House rules prohibited trips paid for by registered lobbyists; Lopez said he’d consulted with the Ethics Committee and intended to abide by the rules.

Lopez was also referenced in an e-mail Ring wrote to Abramoff in 2000 about finding work for Doolittle’s wife, Julie, who went on to work for Abramoff on retainer. Julie Doolittle’s fundraising and event-planning company, which she ran out of the couple’s Virginia home, was the focus of the FBI’s subpoena in April.